John Oliver sought to explain why so many politicians, protesters, and activists are calling to defund the police during a fiery and emotional episode of Last Week Tonight.
“That’s a phrase that on its face may sound alarming to some,” Oliver said, before throwing to a clip of Fox News host Tucker Carlson trashing the concept of defunding the police.
“If you live in a gated community, it might sound like a good idea. You’ve got your own police force. You have no plans to replace them with rapid response social workers. So, you’re set, no matter what happens. There aren’t going to be any rapes on your street,” Carlson said last week. “But what about everyone else? What’s going to happen to them?”
Said Oliver in response: “First of all, in all sincerity, Tucker, you seem nervous. This is a difficult moment, and I really hope you’re taking time for yourself and whether it’s through meditation or yoga or … just kidding. Fuck you forever, Tucker Carlson, you sentient polo mallet.”
The host continued: “Given the shockingly low number of rape cases that actually result in charges, much less convictions, I really wouldn’t be holding that up as proof that our current system is working well. And finally: defunding the police absolutely does not mean that we eliminate all cops and succumb to the Purge. Instead, it’s about moving away from a narrow conception of public safety that relies on policing and punishment and investing in a community’s actual safety net—things like stable housing, mental health services, and community organizations.”
As Oliver explained, the goal is to remove the need for police to respond to mental health distress calls or issues at local schools, situations where the threat of escalation outweighs the infraction. “That is the idea behind ‘defund the police,’ if you actually listened to it,” Oliver said. “Which suggests that Tucker Carlson has the exact level of understanding about the Black Lives Matter movement that you would expect from a man who always looks like he just saw his first black Barbie and feels confused, but mostly scared.”
Throughout the 33-minute episode, Oliver explained how law enforcement has historically been used as a tool to subjugate black people, and also urged viewers not to blame the situation on a few bad actors.
“This clearly isn’t about individual officers,” Oliver said. “It’s about a structure built on systemic racism that this country created intentionally, and now needs to dismantle intentionally—and replace with one that takes into account the needs of the people it actually serves. This is going to take sustained pressure and attention over a long period of time from all of us. Black communities have had to be perpetual activists while also routinely being disenfranchised, and it is long past time for the rest of us to join and make sure their voices are heard and acted upon. Because it’s going to be far too easy for nothing to meaningfully change here. That is what has always happened before.”